Hong Kong, being the event capital of Asia, is no stranger to hosting concerts from local and international artists alike. In just the past few years, major acts including Coldplay, Olivia Rodrigo and BLACKPINK have stopped by the city on their world tours.
Even so, Hong Kong seems to be absent from the tour schedules of other international music acts. In 2025, Lady Gaga promoted her most recent album, Mayhem, with 4 shows in Singapore. The year before, famous popstar Taylor Swift visited just two cities in Asia on her world concert tour, The Eras Tour. With Singapore and Tokyo each selling out six shows at the Singapore National Stadium and Tokyo Dome, critics have pointed to Hong Kong’s lack of venues. Before 2025, although the Hong Kong stadium has a capacity of 40,000, it was not an ideal site for loud music shows due to its residential location and substandard concert facilities. Thus, the venue most appropriate to host music shows was the Asia-World Expo Arena in Chep Lap Kok with a capacity of merely 12,500 to 14,000, resulting in major acts to leave the city off their tour lists.
With the opening of Kai Tak Stadium in March 2025, and Hong Kong’s push to develop the city’s “concert economy” in order to boost its tourism and cultural industry, there has been a noticeable increase in the number of music acts stopping by the city. Rosanna Law, the Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, framed concerts as a vital part of Hong Kong’s broader tourism and consumption strategy.
Upcoming International Music Acts in Hong Kong (per LiveNation)
May 12: Laufey – A Matter of Time World Tour at AsiaWorld Arena
June 2: Daniel Caesar – A Son of Spergy Tour at AsiaWorld Expo
June 20: ITZY – TUNNEL VISION World Tour at AsiaWorld Arena
July 5: The Kid LAROI – A Perfect World Tour at TIDES
August 19-20: Kodaline – Farewell Tour at TIDES
September 4-6: IVE – SHOW WHAT I AM Tour at AsiaWorld Arena
September 16: Post Malone – The BIG Stadium World Tour
September 30: LANY – soft world tour at AsiaWorld Expo
October 21: Charlie Puth – Whatever’s Clever! World Tour
Other highly anticipated acts within the next year include Joji, who infamously dropped out of performing at Clockenflap in 2023, and BTS, who are making their tour comeback after four years. Joji is set to perform on November 27, while BTS are performing for three nights in early March of 2027. Although ticket and venue details have yet to be announced, fans are already gearing up to see these musical acts and awaiting future updates.
Is there any return incentive for international artists in Hong Kong?
Despite the push to improve Hong Kong’s status as a cultural event hub, and successful shows in the last year with Coldplay generating a whopping HK$1.2 billion from their Music of the Spheres World Tour at Kai Tak, there is still the question of whether these major acts have any return incentive to perform in Hong Kong again.
In early March of 2026, UK rap sensation Central Cee came to Hong Kong as part of his ‘Can’t Rush Greatness’ tour. The rapper previously performed in Hong Kong in 2024 as a headliner at the Clockenflap Music & Arts Festival, drawing tens of thousands and making him one of the highly anticipated acts for the first half of 2026.
However, concertgoers present at Central Cee’s show seem to have mixed opinions about the rapper’s energy and reaction to the Hong Kong crowd. “I think it was pretty obvious,” said Cosine Lee, a fan of Central Cee who paid over HKD1000 for her ticket to his show. “You could tell the vibe was kind of off, and it was shown all over his face.”
Lee attributes the rapper’s less than enthusiastic mood to the demographic and behaviour of the concert’s attendees. “There were so many teenagers, and they didn’t really sing the songs,” said Lee. “Everyone just had their phone up to record, but nobody actually sang along with Central Cee.”
In comparison, the UK rapper also made a few stops in China for his tour. Lee observed from the rapper’s social media that he appeared to react to the crowds in the mainland better than that of Hong Kong. While Central Cee invited a young fan onto the stage in Chengdu, in Hong Kong, he simply gave his performance in just under an hour before exiting the stage.
For fans, the price of tickets and the increase in ticket scalpers are factors in turning them away from attending concerts. With the current use of the Cityline website to sell concert tickets, potential buyers have complained that the lack of real-name ticketing has allowed scalpers to grab tickets during presale and upsell them up to more than double the original price on websites like Carousell and Facebook.
As for the music acts themselves, the overall atmosphere delivered by Hong Kong crowds at concerts could potentially drive them away from returning. “Hong Kong people are obsessed with recording everything on their phones, just so they can post a picture on their Instagram stories,” said Navjot Kaur, who attended Coldplay’s concert at Kai Tak Stadium in 2025. “But they never really sing or jump along to the songs.”
“What’s the point of buying tickets if you’re not going to enjoy it to the fullest?” Kaur asked.
Similarly, international acts who have previously come to Hong Kong don’t seem to be returning anytime soon. Ariana Grande, multifaceted singer and actress, previously performed in Hong Kong for the first time in 2017 during her Dangerous Woman world tour, grossing roughly USD 1.2 million from just one show in the city. Much to the disappointment of fans, the popstar does not seem to have any plans to come to Hong Kong, let alone tour any cities in Asia.
This begs the question of whether Hong Kong is offering enough return incentive for international artists to continue delivering their music acts in the city.
“No one who’s come to Hong Kong has come back,” said Sean Lobo, who attended Olivia Rodrigo and Conan Gray’s concerts back in 2024.
Currently, the government is not directly involved in financially supporting music acts that come to Hong Kong, which are typically privately sponsored. Instead, it provides venue support and facilitation measures to encourage large-scale concerts in the city. However, compared to neighbouring Singapore—which offered Taylor Swift approximately USD 2-3 million to make the country the only Southeast Asian stop on her world tour, this approach raises questions about the Hong Kong government’s efforts to boost the city’s concert economy.
“Singapore and Hong Kong’s dynamic is actually very similar,” said Lee. “Obviously, [the government] has to provide more benefits for the celebrities.”
On the other hand, Hong Kong seems to remain a popular city for K-Pop groups to perform. Its proximity to South Korea and strong Korean media presence ensure acts like BLACKPINK, ITZY and LE SSERAFIM return frequently.
But for international, Western music stars, the picture is less certain. While Hong Kong can attract major names for one-off shows, it remains unclear whether the city offers enough incentive for them to return, especially when compared with regional rivals that provide stronger financial and strategic support.
While Hong Kong has made clear progress with its concert economy, the city still appears to rely more on new venues and audience demand than on strong financial incentives to keep international artists coming back. Compared with rival hubs that have been more aggressive in securing exclusive or repeat shows, Hong Kong’s approach remains largely facilitative rather than promotional. That may be enough to attract major acts for now, but whether it is enough to build long-term loyalty from global stars is still an open question.